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Reed says he’s not done with coaching profession

One of ‘smiling points’ of Eskimos’ disappointing season was development of Reilly as a quarterback

Former Eskimos head coach Kavis Reed still has a passion for coaching.

Photograph by: Jason Franson
, Edmonton Journal

EDMONTON - Forty-eight hours into his life as the former head coach of the Edmonton Eskimos, Kavis Reed doesn’t appear to be mourning what was.

Reed was fired on Monday after three Canadian Football League seasons on the job and on the heels of a 4-14 record that dropped his overall mark to 22-32.

His demeanour on Wednesday morning was as stoic and pensive as it was after every practice and after most of the games, save for a web-famous clip of his “consequences” post-game rant this year.

Regardless of the command a coach has on the locker-room — the Eskimos continued to play hard throughout an eight-game losing streak and the final four meaningless games at the end of their season — you have to win to keep your job, and Reed knew that.

During his three years with the Eskimos, he continually spoke about the expendability of a head coach in professional sports. He’s admitted that there were failures in his time leading the team. The shortcomings of any of his coaching hires and bad decisions made during games, he’ll say in private, are on him.

Sitting at a table in a small, empty south side diner, Reed briefly looked back on his time with the Eskimos, spoke about the present and what the future may hold for him.

Edmonton Journal: What have the last 48 hours been like for you?

Kavis Reed: The last 48 hours have been about digesting the situation and really being reflective. There are a number of people that I am so grateful for who have been a part of my life throughout the last three years. Being reacquainted with the organization after nearly a decade of being away from it (he played as a defensive back from 1995-99) was a tremendous experience. I’m really wishing the end would have been different, but I’m understanding the rationale and the outcome behind it.

EJ: How hard is it to not have the ending you want and to not get the chance to try to turn things around next year?

Reed: You would have loved for that to be the situation, but one thing you learn in coaching is that you can control the things that you can control and do your job the best you possibly can. Be true to the process and be grateful that you have the opportunity to work with young men who are entrusting you to make them better both professionally and personally.

EJ: How would you define your relationship with Ed Hervey this year?

Reed: Our relationship was good. We share a similar vision for the franchise and deliberated on how we wanted to shape the roster and position the team for the future.

EJ: You coached a rebuilding team. Was seeing Mike Reilly emerge as a top quarterback in the league a highlight for you?

Reed: It’s one of the smiling points, having the opportunity to be a part of that very important process of giving this franchise the quarterback that it’s been looking for the last couple of years. Seeing Mike develop exponentially over a very small period of time has been a tremendous highlight of this season.

There are so many other stories in this rebuild season that highlights things. It’s seeing the veteran guys like T.J. Hill and J.C. Sherritt — those guys continue to grow solidly, Brian Ramsay, too. Only to name a few, Chris Thompson, Donovan Alexander, to see those guys solidify themselves as leaders in the locker-room, to see young players like Shamwad Chambers continue that growth. Nate Coehoorn, we set a number during the off-season and he came so very close to achieving that and his role expanded with that. There are a lot of different things that I will take tremendous pride in in leaving this organization in a healthy state.

EJ: No one wants to win just four games, but do you think a season with this kind of adversity can help these guys down the road?

Reed: Absolutely, because they’ve gone through the pain now. They understand the pain and they also understand what it takes to not have that experience again. Throughout this very difficult season, after all the close losses, it was about educating them about what it takes to win.

You just don’t roll the football out and play. It’s the things you do every single day, it’s the things you do outside the building and inside the building that’s going to allow you to win football games.

EJ: What do you do now? Do you want to take time to collect your thoughts before figuring that out?

Reed: I’ve had my couple of days off. (Coaching) is a passion for me. Life is about seeing the situation as it is, taking your time to be contemplative, and now it’s time to move forward. There’s a lot of things I want to accomplish in this profession and outside and this is an opportunity for me to look at things. I’m not done in this profession. It’s about looking at the next challenge and moving forward.

EJ: Would you have an interest in doing something with the expansion franchise in Ottawa, given that you spent two years there with a former team in the CFL? (Reed was the defensive backs coach with the Ottawa Renegades from 2002-03)

Reed: Those guys are going to go through their process. I’m appreciative to have been a part of this league for so long and, if the opportunity presents itself to continue to be a part of it, I will look at it, but there are a lot of factors that I have to weigh. My family is the biggest and I’m going to be certain that I’m fair to them in any decision or opportunity I look at.

EJ: What role you would consider for your next job? Do you want to remain a head coach or would you look at a co-ordinator’s job or positional coach if an offer came along?

Reed: I will look at every situation as they present themselves uniquely and analyze where I feel I fit and where I feel I can best contribute. In any job I take, it’s not going to be about me. it’s going to be about building the environment and the people around me.

EJ: If there’s a bright spot in this for you, it might be that your family will get to see more of you now. (Reed and his wife Darlene have two children, Tyra and Tarik).

Reed: They understand that I’m very driven about this profession. They know that’s my passion, but they equally know that the first and foremost thing in my life is to make certain that I’m not speaking out of both sides of my mouth. A man has to take care of his home first and to see my kids grow and to see the tremendous job that my wife has done with them and to watch them be responsible people and be a part of that is tremendously important.

EJ: We’ve heard about the families of coaches of struggling teams here in the past getting grief from the community. Did you encounter any of that this year?

Reed: No. We’re in a very good community and … I think people understand what was going on this year in terms of the state of the franchise and what we were trying to accomplish. My kids have a tremendous group of people around them. My wife has surrounded our family with tremendous people. Our neighbourhood is exceptional, the community, the schools are exceptional. There hasn’t been any new residuals in terms of that kind of pressure or stress on my family.

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